Rueben's Ramblings

Hey All,

Happy Monday Folks! I hope the start of your week has been a good one. Here are the news items for today:

TELEVISION

The following news broke on Twitter on Friday night, but for those of you who didn’t see it, get your calendars out and ready. USA Network has announced return dates for both Burn Notice and Royal Pains as well as set debut dates for two of their new dramas. Burn Notice will be back for season five on June 23 at 9 PM followed by the new series Suits (formerly called A Legal Mind) at 10 PM. The new series Suits revolves around a brilliant but unmotivated college dropout (Patrick J. Adams) who’s recruited by one of Manhattan’s top corporate lawyers (Gabriel Macht). The series also stars Gina Torres (Firefly). Meanwhile, Royal Pains will be back with season three on June 29 at 9 PM followed by the new series Necessary Roughness at 10 PM, which stars Callie Thorne (Rescue Me) as a tough, sexy Long Island divorcee who gets a job as therapist for a professional football team in order to make ends meet and soon finds herself a sought-after therapist to high-profile clients. Marc Blucas (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Mehcad Brooks (True Blood) and Scott Cohen (Gilmore Girls) co-star. As previously announced, White Collar and Covert Affairs will both return on June 7. Psych, unfortunately, won’t be back until sometime this fall. (The Futon Critic)

Actor Danny Glover will guest star on Leverage as a retired war veteran who acquired a piece of art that has a little bit of a mystery story behind it; and much of the story will be narrated by his character. Leverage returns with 10-episodes starting on June 26. (Matt Mitovich at TV Line with reporting by Vlada Gelman)

Actress Claire Forlani (Camelot) will have a recurring role on NCIS: Los Angeles, playing Lauren Hunter, the team’s new operations manager, which puts the future of current operations manager Hetty (Linda Hunt) in question. (Joyce Eng at TV Guide)

DEVELOPMENT NEWS

Actress Amber Tamblyn will be working with House executive producer Katie Jacobs on a new drama pilot about a young teacher in the world of public education in America. Currently the show has received a script commitment from FOX. Also expected to be part of the show is actor Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony-winning writer-star of the Broadway musical In the Heights, who appeared in the two-hour sixth-season premiere of House. (Nellie Andreeva at Deadline)

Actor Adam Harrington (Queer as Folk and Dexter) will be playing Adam’s (Thomas Dekker) father, Ethan Conant in the drama pilot The Secret Circle. Also actress Emily Holmes (Snakes on a Plane) has been cast in a guest starring role as Cassie’s (Britt Robertson) deceased mother, Amelia Blake. The pilot follows Cassie as she moves to New Salem and discovers she is part of a secret coven of witches and may also be the key that will unlock a centuries-old battle of good versus evil. (Tierney Bricker at Zap2It)

CONDOLENCES

Oscar-winning director Sidney Lumet passed away over the weekend. He helmed over 40 movies, including 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon and Network. He was 86. (Brandi Fowler at E! Entertainment Online)

ME: RIP, Mr. Lumet. Deepest sympathies go to his family, friends and fans.

MOMENT OF SILENCE, PLEASE….

BOX OFFICE NEWS

Actor Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire) will appear as General Zod in upcoming Superman film, Man of Steel. (Jenna Mullins at E! Entertainment Online)

Actor Josh Pence (The Social Network) will appear in the upcoming box office film The Dark Knight Rises as a young Ra’s Al Ghul. He will be seen in flashbacks. (Heat Vision and Dark Horizons)

Actor Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man) will star in the film adaptation the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel. The coming-of-age story revolves around a youth (Suraj Sharma) who is the lone survivor of a sunken freighter who winds up sharing a lifeboat with a hyena, an injured zebra, an orangutan and a hungry Bengal tiger. Maguire is set to play a writer who interviews the adult Pi about his life-changing experience. Gerard Depardieu co-stars. (Variety and Dark Horizons)

Actor Paul Giamatti has joined the cast of the big screen adaptation of the Broadway hit Rock of Ages, playing a sleazy band manager. (Kate Ward at Entertainment Weekly)

Here are the top 10 movies at the box office for this past weekend according to Box Office Mojo and TV Guide (with updated numbers from The Hollywood Reporter):

1. Hop – 21.6 million
2. Hanna – 12.4 million
3. Arthur – 12.2 million
4. Soul Surfer – 11.1 million
5. Insidious – 9.7 million
6. Your Highness – 9.5 million
7. Source Code – 9 million
8. Limitless – 5.6 million
9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules – 4.8 million
10. The Lincoln Lawyer – 4.6 million

Q&A SECTION (with Matt Roush from TV Guide)

Question: On an emotional recent Sunday, I settled in to learn who was the subject of the notification officer’s visit on Army Wives. I would have been upset by the death of any of the characters, but when I learned it was Jeremy Sherwood, I was in tears for the rest of the episode as they showed how it happened and the other characters’ reactions. It was almost like I had lost one of my nephews. We have watched Jeremy grow from troubled teenager who physically abused his mother into a confident, caring young man on the brink of marriage. As in Army Wives’ better moments, we were reminded of the devastating losses suffered by military families and their friends every day when a loved one is killed or seriously wounded in Afghanistan or Iraq. In the subsequent episode, among other ripples, we saw how Jeremy’s death has even affected the way Roland handles his counseling cases. Exploring the ripples from Jeremy’s death should give us some great stories this season. Terry Serpico and Catherine Bell as Jeremy’s grieving parents have been wonderfully real. So far, the writers have handled the stories with some understatement. I hope they can resist their shameless manipulation impulses and let the stories unfold realistically. As for Richard Bryant, the local Charleston actor who played Jeremy, I wish him much success in his career. He did a great job. Have you watched any Army Wives this season? What is your take on these developments? — Frank

Matt Roush: I checked in with Army Wives when I heard there was going to be a significant death in the family, and I thought they handled the story with appropriate respect and solemnity. I hope as you do that the show doesn’t lapse into melodrama as a result, but so far, I’d say you’re right to be impressed.

That’s it. Enjoy!